After reading a few threads here..im at a total loss on how to maintain
the service i have now....this is just not right.
I got my first tivo back in 2004...loved it.
Got my second one for the wife 14 months ago...and both have the lifetime
subscription...the one for the wife is a dual tuner series 2.
at this time it will record two channels and be able to watch a third while
this is happening.
acording to comcast/xfinity the tivo wont work right after the digital UPGRADE that takes effect in a few months.
Ive been on the phone with comcast..tivo..and an outfit in LA that i got this tivo from brand new 14 months ago...im geting no help..i have heart problems
and this aint helping.
AT NO TIME DID I PURCHASE AN ANALOGE recorder.
I purchased a DVR ..digital video recorder.
Is there a class action suit against someone that i can join???
Or am i on my own and have to back charge on my credit card.
I paid over $700 for this tivo...only to be told GET lost after 14 months.
Anyone...what do i do ????

DVR is digital, however the tuners in series 2 are still analog and you would need a digital cable box to record even 1 channel.

Higher up in the Tivo "chain", Series 3 and Premiere has digital tuners for either/both cable and antenna, records 2 channels at the same time without a cable box, instead a cable card is used on cable (antenna never requires a card).

The Series 2 and below are built on NTSC tuners, Series 3 and up uses ATSC/NTSC tuners, which support digital antenna, analog cable, digital cable with/out cable card.

Assuming it is a Series 2, your original TiVo should work with one of Comcast's free Digital Transport Adapters.

The Dual Tuner may also work with one or you may require a full cable box (I am not sure if they ever added DTA support to the S2DT). Either way you will only be able to record one thing at a time. BTW, the S2DT does not have an NTSC tuner in it. It has dual analog cable tuners. Not the same thing.

Whoever sold you the "new" S2DT must have had it sitting in a closet for a while. They stopped manufacturing those in 2008. What is the model number? If you paid $700 for an S2DT 14 months ago, then I hate to say it, but you were taken.

Either you can set up the series 2 to work as a single tuner DVR, or you can sell it.

Lifetime units seem to hold some value on ebay, and those funds can be used to get a current generation model that will provide full functionality.

I would get a premiere if you have high speed internet, or a series 3/HD model if you only have dial up or no internet and perfer a phone connection to Tivo. Those are no longer sold, so you would need to purchase second hand (I suppose the shop you got the S-2 from may have some, those are unusual to see new).

The new unit would need a cablecard, which is not the nightmare you may read about. Most times, these go in without issue these days.

Class action suit? Against who? Technology moves on, heck, over the air transitioned to digital only years ago. You purchased an analog recorder that stores the material digitally. Sorry you misunderstood that, or had a bad salesperson experience, but that is what you have.

I fail to see how "it" is wrong. You purchased a used, outdated (by at least 4 model introductions) unit whose longevity was limited.

Quote:

Originally Posted by automick

I got my first tivo back in 2004...loved it.

That's nice. I purchsed my first TiVos in 2000.

Quote:

Originally Posted by automick

Got my second one for the wife 14 months ago...and both have the lifetime
subscription...the one for the wife is a dual tuner series 2.

Which is and always was unable to receive digital video. This is not and never has been a secret. It also has never been any sort of secret that FCC regulations were going to allow CATV systems to drop analog programming entirely starting in 2012. It's 2012.

Quote:

Originally Posted by automick

acording to comcast/xfinity the tivo wont work right after the digital UPGRADE that takes effect in a few months.

Yep. They are dropping all analog services. 'Also old news.

Quote:

Originally Posted by automick

Ive been on the phone with comcast..tivo..and an outfit in LA that i got this tivo from brand new 14 months ago

No, you didn't. The S2 has not been manufactured for at least 5 years. The first TiVo capable of tuning digital video was the Series III, introduced in September 2006. If they claimed the unit was "brand new" then they were at best misleading you. It may have been unused, but even that would be surprising as late as 2010.

In any case, you failed to do your homework. You will soon be paying for that lapse.

Quote:

Originally Posted by automick

...im geting no help..i have heart problems
and this aint helping.

I'm sorry. Lots of us have heart problems. That doesn't relieve us of the responsibility of looking before leaping.

Quote:

Originally Posted by automick

AT NO TIME DID I PURCHASE AN ANALOGE recorder.

Yes, you did. Fourteen months ago, evidently. The Digital Video Recorder was invented in 1999, before anyone had adopted a digital video standard. A DVR is a device for recording video digitally, not a device for recording digital video. Of course, all modern DVRs do record digital video, but what you have is not a modern DVR.

Quote:

Originally Posted by automick

I purchased a DVR ..digital video recorder.

Yes, an old one.

Quote:

Originally Posted by automick

Is there a class action suit against someone that i can join???

Class action suit for what? The FCC reg providing (among other things) for the suspension of analog services went into effect in 2007, long before you purchased your DVR. There are no failures or inconsistencies related to your problem that were not well known when you purchased the unit. The FCC gave everyone 5 years to deal with the upcoming impact. No device has been manufactured which will be impacted by the change since well before the announcement of the change was issued. Every external entity is comepletely without malice, and in the absence of malice, no suit can stand.

Quote:

Originally Posted by automick

Or am i on my own and have to back charge on my credit card.

After 14 months? Good luck.

Quote:

Originally Posted by automick

I paid over $700 for this tivo...

You paid $700 for a 5 year old TiVo? If true, it's ridiculous. Even with PLS, an S2 TiVo should not have sold for more than about $300 a year ago, whether it had been used or not. S3 TiVos with PLS can be had for less.

Quote:

Originally Posted by automick

only to be told GET lost after 14 months. Anyone...what do i do ????

Well, next time you will know to do your homework. Meanwhile, I believe Tivo will allow you to transfer the PLS, but it will cost you. Other than that, asssuming a charge-back on the credit card won't work, and assuming the place that sold you the unit won't offer any satisfaction, there isn't much you can do.

Oh, please. First of all, I am having real trouble lending this story much credit. Even if it is true, however, trying to garner sympathy by proclaiming he has a heart condition just does not sit well with me, and it certainly does not excuse the lack of proper research. As a person who has been through 3 major surgeries in the last 2 years, including one for a heart attack and one for a serious spinal injury, I just don't have a great deal of tolerance for this sort of thing.

Quote:

Originally Posted by lpwcomp

Extremely unlikely.

I'll defer to your judgment on this. I haven't dealt with obtaining PLS in years.

Oh, please. First of all, I am having real trouble lending this story much credit. Even if it is true, however, trying to garner sympathy by proclaiming he has a heart condition just does not sit well with me, and it certainly does not excuse the lack of proper research. As a person who has been through 3 major surgeries in the last 2 years, including one for a heart attack and one for a serious spinal injury, I just don't have a great deal of tolerance for this sort of thing.

While I can sympathize with your attitude and have on occasion reacted the same way, in this case I am willing to reserve judgement. I see two possibilities here - 1. You are correct and it is a troll 2. He's just technically ignorant and, as you said, didn't do his homework (that exact phrase had already occurred to me).
If the former - DNFTEC. If the latter, why pile on?

No, you didn't. The S2 has not been manufactured for at least 5 years. The first TiVo capable of tuning digital video was the Series III, introduced in September 2006. If they claimed the unit was "brand new" then they were at best misleading you. It may have been unused, but even that would be surprising as late as 2010.

It's possible. I bought one of the last S2DTs (not a refurb) straight from TiVo in July 2010. I think they were cleaning out the last of their stock because they sold it for $30.

... BTW, the S2DT does not have an NTSC tuner in it. It has dual analog cable tuners. Not the same thing.
...

Well, it is and it ain't.

If analog NTSC broadcast stations were still on the air, you could hook up an antenna and tune to channels 2-6 (VHF low) and 7-13 (VHF high), but not the UHF stations that started at 14.

Analog cable is NTSC, as far as where inside the 6MHz envelope the video carrier and audio carrier and color subcarrier are, it just uses different carrier frequencies from the previous over the air UHF channels for channels 14 and higher.

After reading a few threads here..im at a total loss on how to maintain
the service i have now....this is just not right.
I got my first tivo back in 2004...loved it.
Got my second one for the wife 14 months ago...and both have the lifetime
subscription...the one for the wife is a dual tuner series 2.
at this time it will record two channels and be able to watch a third while
this is happening.
acording to comcast/xfinity the tivo wont work right after the digital UPGRADE that takes effect in a few months.
Ive been on the phone with comcast..tivo..and an outfit in LA that i got this tivo from brand new 14 months ago...im geting no help..i have heart problems
and this aint helping.
AT NO TIME DID I PURCHASE AN ANALOGE recorder.
I purchased a DVR ..digital video recorder.
Is there a class action suit against someone that i can join???
Or am i on my own and have to back charge on my credit card.
I paid over $700 for this tivo...only to be told GET lost after 14 months.
Anyone...what do i do ????

Did you buy the Series 2 from the retailer and then pay TiVo, Inc. for the lifetime subscription?

I was in a pawn shop last year and I saw a Pioneer DVD-recorder TiVo (Series 2) on sale for the low low price of $899. I guess they thought giving you $100 off the original list price was a great deal. I always wondered if somebody bought it.

After looking around I bet he bought from weakknees, they have expanded DT for $400 and then $300 for lifetime. If so they should have steered him to a HD or newer especially since he was with comcast. As for NIB DT's a guy near me has a warehouse full.

If analog NTSC broadcast stations were still on the air, you could hook up an antenna and tune to channels 2-6 (VHF low) and 7-13 (VHF high), but not the UHF stations that started at 14.

Analog cable is NTSC, as far as where inside the 6MHz envelope the video carrier and audio carrier and color subcarrier are, it just uses different carrier frequencies from the previous over the air UHF channels for channels 14 and higher.

Ok. So the fact that it wasn't a full OTA NTSC tuner is what enabled them to omit the ATSC tuner?

After looking around I bet he bought from weakknees, they have expanded DT for $400 and then $300 for lifetime. If so they should have steered him to a HD or newer especially since he was with comcast. As for NIB DT's a guy near me has a warehouse full.

To the OP, if you have a Series 2 DT, your best bet is to hook it to a cable box from Comcast (NOT the same as a DTA). That way you can still record 2 channels.

+1

For $800 the wife just got the series 4 Elite with four tuners with lifetime. The cable card installation was a breeze.
Took the older series 3 to our vacation home and hooked up the older series 2 to the digital cable box. Comcast Florida. It can record one digital channel off the comcast box and since Comcast in Florida still sends out the network analog channels the series 2 can record those on the other tuner.

Until they go all digital, he doesn't need anything. Once they go all digital, he will only be able to record one channel.

Actually, you can set it up to record one channel in analog and one in digital, so in most cases you can still record 2 channels. Depends on what Comcast is doing in your area. In Seattle, we set up the box like this for my mother, since they are still retaining some analog channels (channels 1-30) for now. Works for her (for now).

I agree that statement from Weaknees is BS. I'm just saying we don't know what the OP was told compared with what the OP understood.

It seems to be a one and done poster, with no additional comments. Not sure if they gave up, or realized that they had made a serious error. Hopefully they took this list of advice and are minimizing their issue operationally and/or financially.

Actually, you can set it up to record one channel in analog and one in digital, so in most cases you can still record 2 channels. Depends on what Comcast is doing in your area. In Seattle, we set up the box like this for my mother, since they are still retaining some analog channels (channels 1-30) for now. Works for her (for now).

Did you miss the part where I said "once they go all digital"? Yes, he can do as you suggest if they only go partially digital and he still wants to access some of the channels that have gone digital. Depending on the package he has, it may cost him extra.

I agree that statement from Weaknees is BS. I'm just saying we don't know what the OP was told compared with what the OP understood.

It seems to be a one and done poster, with no additional comments. Not sure if they gave up, or realized that they had made a serious error. Hopefully they took this list of advice and are minimizing their issue operationally and/or financially.